You Can Choose Your Friends, And Family!
by bacarditoo
Summary: The Tok'Ra are asked to assist in the search for Atlantis. Once found Sam Carter takes command as is shocked when Martouf and Jacob notify her of the change in personnel. Characters include, Teal'c, Cam Mitchell, John Shepherd, Jack O'Neill and Delek.
1. Chapter 1

**You Can Choose Your Friends, And! You Can Choose Your Family**

The last thing that the SGC had heard from Atlantis was that they had been attacked by the replicators and were moving house as it were. Atlantis was to be moved to a new and secure location then nothing more had been heard. It had been 2 weeks now, and still nothing.

The Hercules had been despatched to the cities' last known whereabouts in order to find out exactly what did happen to the Tau'Ri outpost but to date had found nothing except a worrying amount of debit in the atmosphere around the Atlantian home world.

The Hercules had reported their findings to an increasingly worried SGC and it was at that point General Landry had decided to call in Generals O'Neill and Hammond. They had as much right to know exactly what was going on at the SGC as anyone else, even if the management did disagree.

" Welcome back to the SGC Jack, General Hammond " The commander of the SGC said solemnly.

" Thanks Hank. I just wish it could be under happier circumstances. Have you heard anything yet?" Jack asked his long time friend.

" Nothing. They've been out of contact for 2 weeks now." Hank sighed as he ushered Jack O'Neill and George Hammond into their old office.

" I think we're going to need help with this one George, Even if we do find Atlantis, they're going to need more help than they'd like to admit." Jack said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Headaches it seems come with command, and unfortunately they came more often than he would like.

" Agreed Jack, I'll leave that to you. I need to get back to the Pentagon and fill them in on the events so far. With a bit of luck we can sort this mess out before anything else hit's the fan.

* * *

" Master Garshaw. The Tau'Ri are asking for our assistance in locating a missing outpost." Aldwyn shouted excitedly as he ran into the Council Chambers causing more than a few scowls from the Chambers personnel. 

" Why would we want to assist in such a trivial matter?" Delek sneered. He really didn't understand why the young centurion was so excited and was livid that he had interrupted an important council meeting for this un-interesting problem.

" The outpost has been named as Atlantis." Aldwyn stated smugly. You could have heard a pin drop as the shock of Aldwyns' words sank in.

" Did you say Atlantis?" Garshaw asked, still not trusting her own ears. The last time she had heard that name was when her mother Egeria had told her of her visit to the famous Ancient city, at the invite of the Ancient Council no less! She had been so proud to be considered a friend to the Ancients.

Over the years that ensued she had visited on many an occasion, that was until the Ancients had found another foe and had disappeared. It was assumed that it had been destroyed.

" So they call it a Tau'Ri outpost now do they?" Delek asked making to attempt to hide the annoyance at the arrogance of the people.

" Well seeing as though half of Tau'Ri are descendants of the Ancients, I think we have a right." O'Neill grinned as he entered the Council Chamber. " I myself am descended from Galledria" He smiled. The look on Deleks' face was priceless.

" That explains a lot." Persus sighed. " Galledria was the High Councillor for the Avalonian High Council.

He could see now why everything had been so hard for O'Neill. Why he found it hard to trust the Tok'Ra and why he had a great dislike for many of them.

You see the Ancients could sense the presence of a Symbiote and until Egeria, saw no difference between the Goa'uld and the Tok'Ra. A Symbiote was a Symbiote. O'Neill was having the same trouble it would seem. The fact that the Tok'Ra had a reluctance to share their knowledge and experiences with the Tau'Ri had probably fuelled O'Neill's fires of doubt.

" The Tok'Ra would be honoured to assist in the hunt for Atlantis General O'Neill." Persus smiled, then started barking orders to the many Tok'Ra that had congregated in the hall ways.

" Who knows my friend, this might just bring our two peoples closer. He sighed to his host.

" As long as…how does Jacob put it? Ah yes. As long as we do not put their backs up again." Colen said while giving Persus the mental equivalent to an elbow nudge in the ribs.

" Such strange words that they use." Persus mused, but he agreed with his host. They would have to try hard not to upset the Tau'Ri again, especially if they wished access s to the Ancient city. A lot was at stake. The alliance, and indeed the very survival of the Tok'Ra itself.

* * *

" It doesn't look good." Daniel said to no-one in particular as he slumped down in his chair and stared off into space. 

" No, it does not Daniel Jackson." Teal'c agreed with genuine sadness. He had respected Dr Weir and had grown to like her in the weeks that they had worked with one another.

" SG1, report to the bridge." The Captain ordered over the ships communication array. The team didn't need to be asked twice, apart from being extremely curious, they were bored witless, 5 minutes later and they were all standing on the bridge waiting to see what was deemed so interesting.

" We've found an energy signature that is very similar to the energy reading we found at the pole when the little darts were deployed by O'Neill. I think it's worth following up, I thought that maybe you four would like to ride up front for this trip." Captain Foster grinned. He knew exactly what was going through SG1's minds. They were the flagship team of the SGC. They were used to being out there in the thick of things, not sitting on their backsides doing absolutely nothing. SG1 was going stir crazy, even the junior officers could see that, and it got dangerous when SG1 got bored, the ship would turn into practical joke city if he didn't keep them occupied.

It took another 18 hours before they came across what looked like a little speck on the view screen, and sure enough as they got closer that little speck transformed into the Atlantian City.

" Dr Weir. Dr Weir, do you need assistance?" Captain Foster asked as he assessed the damage to the City. It didn't look good at all. The City had obviously taken a battering as it fled the Replicators. What made everyone nervous was the fact that where the gate room should be, well, it looked like there wasn't one from where the Captain was sitting. " I do hope there was no one in that room when it went!" The Captain said solemnly.

" Permission to go aboard Atlantis Captain. " Cam asked while still staring at the mess on the view screen.

" The shields are still up Colonel, there's no way we can get you aboard." The Captain sighed.

" Well, Sir, I've just finished uploading a new Programme that should help with that." Sam offered. " It should have no problem transporting us through the shields once it finds the shields correct frequency." She continued.

" Providing that you can prove to me that the Programme is fool proof and has no bugs to iron out, then yes. If! And that's a big if! I let you go ahead with this little experiment of yours, you will follow orders to the letter, there will be no heroics, is that clear SG1. " The Captain asked as he read the team the riot act.

" Crystal. " Cam smirked. The Captain sighed to himself. The day SG1 followed orders to the letter would be the day he'd put on a dress and change his name to Sheba.

* * *

" Come on Elizabeth. Open your eyes for Shepherd." John asked hopefully as the Dr's did all they could for his friend and colleague. 

" Her vitals have stabilised. Things are looking a little better than they did 10 minutes ago. You should go get some rest Colonel." The head nurse told the exhausted man that hadn't left Dr Elizabeth Weir's side since they brought her into the infirmary.

" Uh, Sir. There's something real big coming up on us fast. Sensors are still down, I've got no way of knowing if they're friendlies. " Young Airman Stebbings notified his commanding officer. The poor new recruit was practically fresh out of training and this had been his first mission. He had been filled in on all the comings and goings of Atlantis from day one and had thought he knew what to expect. Boy was he wrong, but he was learning fast. _" Talk about being thrown in at the deep end."_ He thought to himself.

" I'm on my way Airman." John smiled tiredly at the 18 year old in front of him, he stood a tall 6'2", he was muscular but not muscle bound, he had a baby blonde head of hair that sported the regulation hair cut, clear blue eyes and a baby faced smile that under normal circumstances would just beg for teasing, John sat down in what passed for a chair in what was left of the gate room as he let his thoughts run away with him.

" Have we communications back on line yet?" He asked the first tech that he set eyes on.

" Nearly there Sir. Most of the circuits were fried, I've just finished replacing most of the chips." The tech explained.

" Step up the pace Christian. There's a ship bearing down on us and I need to know if we're in trouble or not." John snapped at the equally tired man that had just become head of his department as his boss hadn't survived the cave in.

" Relax Shepherd. The ships friendly." Cam said cheerfully as Colonel John Shepherd whirled round to look at him in disbelief. " Took us a while to find ya. Hell, when you guys decide to get lost, you get lost in style. Move the ship, or is that City? Anyway, you're not exactly where you should be. Want to share?" Cam grinned.

" Well gee Colonel, excuse me for not being perfect. I had my butt firmly planted on that control chair and as we're leaving orbit the shields didn't close in time so the command centre got blasted, and for no apparent reason we fell out of Hyperspeed ahead of schedule, But Hey, I guess…….."

"Whoa, Whoa there partner. I'm on your side remember?" Cam said as he put his hands up as if a gun had just been pointed at him. John let out a heavy sigh and again slumped into the chair.

" Yeah. Sorry. Mitchell. It's been a hard day, and I have the feeling that It's about to get harder." He stated as yet another explosion could be heard at the far end of the City.

" Captain Foster will send over some more personnel. More hands make light work as they say." Cam joked, and was rewarded with a little huff of amusement from John Shepherd. The guy was infectious, there's no way anyone could stay mad at him for long. Ok, hindsight most people probably found the guy annoying as hell, but John liked him, so who cares?.

* * *

It took the best part of 5 days around the clock to fix most of the damage. Most of the repairs that were left could be done when they arrived at their new home world. Communications were up and running that was something, oh, and the Stargate was back on line, so they were back in contact with Earth, which John was thinking was not such a good thing. You see, since Atlantis was attacked, Again! They were talking about military command, Again!, He liked Weir and couldn't see anyone else running the show. Anyway, a couple hours later and there's O'Neill on the speaker again telling him that Sam Carter was to take over and that Weir would kinda be, well, Sam's second. He could live with that. 

" Many congrats, Colonel." John smiled as he gave a salute to his new boss.

" Thank you Colonel." Sam smiled back. Her own command. Oh she'd thought she get her own command but hey, she thought it would be an SGC team, This was not what she expected, not that she minded of course.

" Uh, Sir. " Young Stebbings quietly interrupted the friendly banter between the two Colonel's.

" What is it Airman. " Sam asked gently. She sensed that the guy was practically a nervous wreck, He'd need some down time after all this was over.

" There's a, well Sir. Well it looks like a Goa'uld mother ship is coming up at our rear." He managed to get out eventually.

" Now what? " Both John and Sam sighed in unison.

" Atlantis. This is the Tok'Ra offering assistance as per your governments request." A familiar voice said over the speaker.

" Martouf? "

" It is I Samantha. And may I offer you congratulations on your promotion? " He said proudly.

" Docking bays are repaired. You're clear to land." Sam said excitedly. It had been nearly a year since they had brought him back after the Zaa'Tarc incident and had forgotten how much she had missed him. She hurried to the transporter and told the computer to take her to Docking bay 1, there she awaited the arrival of the Tok'Ra as a child would wait for Christmas morning.

The ship hovered gently above the floor then settled smoothly In It's new resting place. Eventually the Tok'Ra started to disembark. " Hi hun. Did ya miss me? " Jacob grinned as he took his little girl into his arms, giving her the biggest bear hug.

" Dad, need to breathe." Sam joked as Jacob moved her away to arms length. He still had his hands on her shoulders as he took a good look.

" You've lost weight kid. You eating right." He asked concerned.

" Oh, Dad. " She sighed as she spotted Shepherd and Mitchell wearing broad grins.

" Well. You're new crew are aboard and awaiting orders. " Jacob said proudly.

" Excuse me ?" Sam wasn't quite sure she had heard correctly.

" The Tok'Ra are moving in to Atlantis hun. Effective, immediately.

TBA

Hi, hope you like the story so far. As always, would really love to know what you think. So please leave feedback. Thanks for reading, best wishes, bacardi.


	2. Chapter 2

**You Can Choose Your Friends, And Your Family!**

"I'm sorry? I thought you just said you were moving in." Sam practically laughed.

"You heard your father correctly Colonel Carter." Delek smiled smarmily, cutting Jacob out of the conversation.

_"How__ Rude!"_ Selmak raged inside Jacobs head.

"_ Sel, a little quieter hun. I can hear you fine_." Jacob grimaced. Sel actually outdid him as far as temper was concerned. After an apologetic hug from the disgruntled councillor Selmak decided to have a quiet word with the young pain in the mikta a little later.

" Now, The first thing that we need to do is…"

" Is have quarters assigned to you, get you settled in and assemble MY! staff for briefing." Sam butted in. She was more than a little annoyed with the high Councillor's cheek.

" I really think…" Delek started.

" That's a first Councillor. " Sam bit at him. " May I remind you that I run the show here?" Sam said slowly and precisely as though talking to a child.

" And may I remind you that we have been given full access to all areas of Atlantis Colonel?" Delek sneered in return.

" Access, Councillor, access. NOT! Command." Sam smiled sweetly. She loved getting the upper hand over Delek. A side effect of Jolinar she was sure. She found great satisfaction in the face of thunder that Delek was wearing at this moment in time.

" _Jacob, may be we should…"_

"_ I agree Sel…_um Delek? Maybe we should take this elsewhere?" Jacob asked, trying to put his best diplomatic voice into action and failing miserably. Any fool could hear that Sam's father was enjoying the argument immensely, there really was no walking over his little girl.

" No need dad. This conversation is over!" Sam grinned."Colonel Shepherd, would you show our GUESTS! To their new quarters?" She asked, still looking into Deleks' eyes as though challenging him. " Then have all senior staff meet me in the briefing room." Sam finished, and then promptly turned on her heels leaving Delek with steam leaving his ears and the rest of the Tok'Ra grinning like Cheshire cats.

" Of all the nerve!" Sam raged to herself as she made her way towards the briefing room. If Jolinar had been alive the outcome would not have been so diplomatic. Sam giggled to herself as she remembered the last little tete a tete that Jolinar and Delek had partaken in. That particular engagement had landed Delek in the tank for a fort night. " The little worm will never learn." She sighed.

Sam sat in silence as she waited for her personnel to arrive and they were soon starting to arrive slowly and surely until all they were waiting on was Rodney. Five minutes later and Dr Rodney Mackay ran through the door acting like an excited child in a candy store.

" Tok'Ra." He said happily.

" Yeah, little buggers are everywhere." Shepherd sighed.

" Eh? Um, OK. What I was going to say is that I've found them." Rodney smiled.

" They're a little hard to miss Rodney." Shepherd grinned.

" what? Did you find the tanks already then?" Rodney asked disappointedly.

"Have..I..found..the..tanks?" Shepherd repeated slowly. " Rodney, have you finally gone nuts?" Shepherd asked.

" Gentlemen, I think you have your wires crossed." Sam smiled weakly, all this banter was giving her a headache. " Rodney, perhaps you could start at the beginning please?" She sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose.

" Well..I was searching through the labs that had been submerged and found a reference to Egeria, you know, Tok'Ra Queen?" He said meekly. He was amazed that no-one knew the name. " Am I the only one with an IQ here?"

" Egeria was the Tok'Ra Queen as Rodney stated. She was originally a Goa'uld that had seen the light so to speak. Unfortunately she died not so long ago." Sam started to explain

" Yes Yes, Be that as it may. " Rodney interrupted, arrogantly dismissing Samantha. " She was a regular visitor to Atlantis. Seems she befriended the Ancient by the name of Gwynhwyfar." He paused for dramatic effect. " Gwynhwyfar? OK this is going to take a while." He sighed. "Let me explain, Gwynhwyfar or Guinevere as it was changed to by the French a little later down the time line was…"

" Whoa, wait a minute, you mean Knights of the Round Table." Shepherd asked in amazement.

" Finally, Exactly!" Rodney sighed. " Well, from what I understand the kingdom of Avalon was actually a city not unlike Atlantis, and according to the databanks Gwynhwyfar hid a clutch or two for Egeria. Including! A little Queen at Avalon." Rodney explained proudly.

" Well that explains the sudden Tok'Ra invasion." Shepherd said sarcastically.

" Tok'Ra invasion?"

" Yup Rodney, a whole base full of them." Shepherd explained.

" Colonel Carter? " A voice interrupted through Sam's ear piece.

" Go ahead lieutenant." She replied tiredly.

" The Tok'Ra are here ma'am, they're driving me nuts. " The young man explained. Sam sighed, this was going to be a long day. " I'm on my way lieutenant."

* * *

" You need to hurry. They will soon gain ground on us."

" We're going as fast as we can. We risk damaging the containment field if we move any faster. Besides, we are nearly there. Just a few more yards and we are free." The three men staggered towards the mirror that they had been told would lead them to salvation and a whole new beginning.

* * *

" What's going on Delek?" Sam asked. She was starting to get annoyed with the Councillor.

" I have work to do Colonel, now, leave me be." Delek sneered.

" By all means councillor." Sam smiled.

" Sir?" Lieutenant Stephens asked in disbelief.

" Yes Lieutenant. The councillor wants to be left alone. All Tau'Ri and Ethosion personnel please leave the lab." Sam ordered. The team left the room grinning from ear to ear as the machinery started to shut down.

" What's going on?" Delek raged, he was none to impressed and had little patience for the children's interference.

" You see Delek. Atlantis was built by the Ancients, and the Ancients made sure that no-one with Naquadah in their system could operate any of their equipment. So you see Delek, this city is pretty useless to you without the Tau'Ri and Ethosions. Now I suggest you return to your quarters or I'll have you confined to the Brigg." Sam grinned in satisfaction as Delek snorted and left the Tau'Ri compliment on their own in the lab.

" You know Colonel Carter? If looks could kill you'd be dead now!" Shepherd laughed. Pretty soon the whole room was in uproar. Their laughter rang in Deleks' ears as he walked down the corridor towards the transporter.

" They'll be sorry." He said venomously to his host, causing a chill to run down his poor hosts' spine. " They'll be very sorry indeed."

tbc


End file.
